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SGFA Cup
The St. Gregory Football Association Challenge Cup, known as the SGFA Cup for short, is an annual knockout cup competition in Gregorian football. The SGFA Cup is organized by and named for the St. Gregory Football Association. Bonneville United have the most Cup titles all-time with 7, and are also the current holders of the trophy after defeating New Castle by a score of 3-2 in the 2019 final. History The SGFA Cup was established in 1980 and first held in 1980-81, the SGFA's second season. The first SGFA Cup was contested between eight teams: all six Championship teams, plus an amateur club from the city of Chapman (who would become FC Chapman the following year) and a team called the Barbarians, based in Warner Bay and made up of invited players from around the country. Cape Wells Wanderers won the inaugural SGFA Cup, defeating Zane Hills by a score of 3-2 in the final. Format Eligible teams Entry is open to all teams who compete in the three professional domestic leagues in St. Gregory – League A, League B, League C – as well as teams in the Amateur Leagues. Amateur teams were first granted entry to the tournament in 2015-16. No team from outside League A has ever won the SGFA Cup. Seven League B teams have reached the final – Union Town (1987), Rivergate (1997), Holland County (2004), Bonneville Juniors (2008), Port St. Christopher Pirates (2014), Banks City (2015) and Swifton Athletic (2016) – but all were defeated. Petit-Rouge (formerly Little Rouge) are the only team to win the SGFA Cup and not play the following season in League A, having won the 2005 final despite being relegated from League A that same season. Draw The competition is a knockout tournament with pairings for each round drawn at random. There are no seeds and the draw for each round is not made until after matches in the previous round are completed. The draw also determines which teams will play at home. Each tie is played as a single leg. If a match is drawn, it will be settled with extra time and penalty shoot-outs. Prior to the 1997-98 tournament, matches still drawn after extra time were replayed in every stage other than the final. The competition begins in September with the teams from the senior level of the SGFA Amateur Leagues meeting in the Preliminary Round. The winners from the Preliminary Round progress to the First Round, where teams from League C enter the competition. League B teams enter in the Second Round, and League A teams enter in the Third Round. After the Fourth Round, the rounds are officially titled Quarter-Finals, Semi-Finals and Final. Counting the Preliminary Round, there are eight rounds in total. Tie-ins with other competitions From 2010 to 2017, the winner of the SGFA Cup was awarded a place in the CONCACAF Champions League (CCL) the following season, regardless of the team's league placement or finishing position in that league. If the winning team had already qualified for the CCL by finishing first, second or third in League A, then the losing SGFA Cup finalist was given the CCL place instead. From 2018 on, the SGFA Cup champion will qualify for the the Champions League. If the winning team has already qualified for either the Champions League or CONCACAF Liga América by virtue of finishing first or second, respectively, in League A that same season, the second-place team in League A will qualify for the Champions League, while the third-place team in League A will qualify for Liga América. SGFA Cup winners also qualify for the single-match SGFA Shield against the League A champions. If the winning team also finished that season as League A champions, ie, did "the double", they will meet the Shield holders instead, or the runners-up in League A if the league and cup winners are also Shield holders. Venues In all rounds from the Preliminary Round until the quarter-finals, matches are played at the home ground of whatever team is drawn as the home team. When four teams remain in the competition, the semi-finals are played at venues neutral to both clubs. The SGFA will often select the largest available stadium in this case. Ford Stadium, the home of Bonneville United, and FC Chapman's emcom Stadium are the two largest club stadia in St. Gregory and are usually the first to be selected. Other stadiums that have been used in recent years include Redfield in eastern Bonneville, Triangle Bank Stadium in Macon and Franklin Road in Cape Wells. The SGFA Cup Final is played at the National Cricket Ground in Warner Bay. This is the SGFA's official national stadium and typically does not hold club matches. Winners Below is a list of the results of each SGFA Cup Final since the competition's inception. The individual page for each final match can be reached by clicking the score. Category:SGFA competitions